The invention relates to shipping support structure for large machinery and, more particularly, to a shipping support structure that allows for large machinery such as a turbine or the like to meet at least one shipping criteria that would not otherwise be feasible using a standard shipping support.
Advances in turbine technology have pushed turbine sizes larger. Turbine and other large machinery manufacturers ship product all over the world using every means of transport. Existing infrastructure, however, is not easily modified to accommodate the larger sized machines, resulting in difficulties in delivering product to final destinations. As such, when shipping large machinery such as heavy duty gas turbines, challenges arise to accommodate normal global shipping limits including height, width and weight limitations.
Currently, to enable shipment of these products to challenging locations, special and time-consuming circuitous routes or costly work-arounds are required. Often, the route is limited by one obstacle that presents the challenge, for example a low bridge or narrow passage. Existing methods for overcoming shipping envelope limits include adjustable rail cars or road vehicles that move laterally and vertically. Alternative route planning is also available to avoid constraining obstacles. These options, however, are not preferable because there are not many options for adjustable vessels, and these vessels also have limits. These options are also expensive to utilize. A single configuration shipping support could be designed to meet the most challenging obstacle on a route without being configurable; however, this solution would compromise other requirements or be higher in cost.
It would be desirable to overcome these drawbacks and enable heavy machinery to be shipped in the most economical route with minimal delay.